"Illustrating Melodies: Iconographical Instructions into Byzantine Music Theory and Practice"

Church Music and Icons Windows to Heaven

Proceedingsof the Fifth International Conference on

Orthodox Church MusicUniversity of Eastern Finland

Joensuu Finland3ndash9 June 2013

The International Society for Orthodox Church Music

2015

Publisher The International Society for Orthodox Church Music (ISOCM) Editors Ivan Moody and Maria Takala-Roszczenko

Translation from Russian into English language ndash Maria Takala- Roszczenko

Sale The International Society for Orthodox Church Music wwwisocmcomresourcespublications Cover design copy Ikonifoto Vesa Takala

Photographs Kalevi Koslonen

The International Society for Orthodox Church MusicISSN 1796-9581ISBN 978-952-99883-5-8

Printed by Ecoprint AS Estonia2015

Achilleas Chaldaeakes

Illustrating Melodies

Iconographical Instructions in Byzantine Music Theory and Practice

Are there any ldquoiconographical instructionsrdquo in Byzantine music theory And if so are there any ldquoreflections of iconographical imagesrdquo to be found in Byz-antine music practice Very much so in my view as regards both Byzantine music theory and practice Let me explain this concept of ldquoillustrating melo-diesrdquo

Going through Byzantine and post-Byzantine theoretical treatises one can easily find some kinds of ldquoiconographical instructionsrdquo regarding basic ele-ments of Byzantine music theory and practice such as musical signs the well-known anonymous treatise Questions and Answers on the Interval Signs includes such instructions for example concerning the ison sign

hellipconcerning the way in which the ison is the beginning and foundation of all the signs this is because neither a master-builder nor a painter nor a copyist can accomplish anything without a point For when [hellip] a painter is drawing a face or a hand or a foot it is impossible for him not in the beginning to make a point and when he makes a circle a point is always being made in the middle of the circle ndash how Since the compasses have two parts he places one part on his piece of paper or on the wall and turns the other and the point is made [hellip] Thus also the beginning of the ison is a point and from the point there is a horizontal stroke going neither up nor down and for that reason it is called ison [hellip] The ison is a point and a stroke or in other words the pen was trailed a little and the result was an ison1

We should pay particular attention to the last sentence ldquoThe ison is a point and a stroke or in other words the pen was trailed a little and the result was an isonrdquo It is almost as if an imaginary master is actually holding his stu-dentrsquos hand showing him exactly how to draw this sign2 This is a first set of ldquoiconographical instructionsrdquo frequently found in Byzantine music theory texts These kinds of instructions represent a quite limited approach to the se-mantics of each sign similar illustratve descriptions regarding other musical signs are to be found in the same theoretical treatise (Questions and Answers on

1 Schartau 199843 472 For instance this ldquoiconographical lessonrdquo could be expressed thus ldquohellipfrom the point make a horizontal stroke going neither up nor down and you will have the isonhelliprdquo

138

139

Achilleas Chaldaeakes Illustrating Melodies Iconographical Instructions

the Interval Signs) such as for example for the series of signs Oligon-Oxeia-Petasthe-Kouphisma Let us examine each case

The oligon for example a sign drawn like a flat linebull 3 is described like a ldquostaircaserdquo4 a staircase through which melody ascends ldquolittle by little ie one step (voice) and two and threerdquo thatrsquos why we usually see in musical manuscripts a series of three or four oligons written like a scale thus

The sign oxeia is also described as ldquosharper than the oligon linerdquobull 5 a sign that indicates any ldquosharper voicerdquo

Let us now see how the petasthe is described in the same text ldquowhen bull the maker wished to find for the cheironomy yet another voice broader than the oxeia he added those three signs together ie the ison the oli-gon and the oxeia and it became one hypostasis (neumatic sign) called petasthe which means the flying onerdquo6 one can easily imagine the spe-cific iconographical instruction hidden in this description7 if one adds ison and oligon and oxeia one may combine them as a petasthe sign a sign the energy of which incorporates all the energies of the other three signs

Finally the kouphisma ldquowas a petasthe and the maker placed in the bull front part of it and attached to it the letter kappardquo8 how In this way

3 Cf Wolfram-Hannick 199756353 [ laquohellip ὀλίγον ὃ λέγεται καὶ μακρόνraquo]4 Schartau 199867 [ ldquoAnd hear now why it is called oligon That is because the mas-ter-builder when he wants to build a staircase first lays the foundation as we have already said in the beginning and that foundation is not calculated from the staircase but it is from the ground level as soon as he has build one step (degree) from the ground level then he calculates and builds two and three and four as many as he wants and finishes the ladder In exactly the same way also the maker of the voices (tonal steps) has made first the founda-tion ie the ison And from the ison he wanted o ascend seven voices (steps) through not all of them at one time but one by one He made the oligon namely in order to ascend little by little ie one step (voice) and two and three until seven And for that reason it is called oligonrdquo]5 Ibid [ ldquoBut when the maker then realized that the cheironomy is in need of another sharper voice he made the oxeia And it is sharper than the oligon and for that reason it is called oxeiardquo]6 Ibid [ ldquoAnd again he wishes to find for the cheironomy yet another voice broader than the oxeia so he added up those three signs ie the ison the oligon and the oxeia and it became one hypostasis (neumatic sign) called petasthe which means the flying one Man too is just like that mind soul and body in one hypostasis Now those three signs the oli-gon and the oxeia and the petasthe posses the same diastematic value in the metrophony but as far as the cheironomic peculiarity is concerned the oligon is one thing the oxeia another and the petasthe yet anotherrdquo]7 Cf Mazaraki 1992121 134 8 Schartau 199869 [ ldquoThe kouphisma was a petasthe and the maker placed in the front

140


petasthe+kappa became kouphisma a new sign appropriate for any ldquolight voicerdquo

In other cases such illustrative instructions refer mainly to the technique of the so-called cheironomia [gesticulation] Cheironomia is a broader technique referring to the movement of the hands mainly in order to coordinate a group of chanters a choir In this sense cheironomia should be perceived as a visual codification of the right way to interpret either the notational signs (neumes) in a narrow sense or the musical lines in a broader sense ie the right way to interpret the whole aesthetic concept of the performance In his theoreti-cal treatise Kyrillos Marmarinos former bishop of Tenos puts it brilliantly ldquoCheironomia is the movement of the hands which designs the melodyrdquo9

Indeed there is a specific mechanism correlating the name the form and the function of every sign Monk Gabriel notes that ldquothe ancients have not named them randomly but each sign has been named after its functionrdquo10 This func-tion ie the way in which every sign (and in a broader sense every union of the signs every thesis ie every musical phrase of a melody) is expressed through the voice of the chanter can also be visualized through cheironomia ie through a series of specific movements of the hands This is the reason why whenever the signs are mentioned in the relevant teachings of the vari-ous theoretical texts the notion of cheironomia is also evoked and vice versa every attempt to explain the term cheironomia is accompanied by the teaching of the signs

Let me quote a relevant passage from Chrysanthosrsquos Great Theory of Music The textrsquos title is ldquoAbout Cheironomiardquo but as will be realized the whole argu-ment almost exclusively concerns the signs11 ldquoThe ison was thus called be-cause it keeps the sound unbending Its cheironomia was done the way we do the sign of the cross three fingers forming the symbol of the Holy Trinity The oligon was thus called because with it we ascend a little that is the interval of a tone while with the kentema we ascend two tones discontinuously and with the hypsele four tones We compare the oligon to the kentema and the hypsele because the first inventors of the neumes used only these neumes in ascent The cheironomia of the oligon was done with the gesture that symbolizes our Lordrsquos holy hand when he said lsquoShoot the net to starboard and you will make a catchrsquo The petaste got its name from the cheironomia because when it was done the hand went up and flied like a feather This gesture was done with the five fingers held together and the hand seemed like flying the way the Lordrsquos hand is symbolized when he said to the paralytic lsquoTake up your bed

part of it and attached to it the letter kappa and it is obvious that it is being lsquolightenedrsquo both as regards the voice (interval function) and as regards the cheironomy and for that reason it is called kouphismardquo] 9 Popescu-Judetz ndash Ababi-Sirli 200012210 Wolfram ndash Hannick 198564300-111 Romanou 2010108-9sectsect 210-5

141


and walkrsquo Etymologically the kentema derives from its cheironomia because the person who did it formed his forefinger as if pricking The two kentemata had the same cheironomia too Both cheironomiae were done the way deity and humanity are symbolized The hypsele was thus called because no other neume raises the sound so high The chamele was thus called because no oth-er neume lowers the sound so much and what lies low is called chameleon The hypsele and the chamele had no cheironomia to themselves alone like the kentema because four among the neumes the kentemata the hypsele the ela-fron and the chamele were called spirits and their cheironomiae were done in common with the bodies which is what all the remaining neumes were except the hyporrhoe which was neither called body nor spirit The apostrophos was thus called because it turns the sound away from the high pitch towards the low and is the opposite of the oligon The elaphron was thus called because the two notes were descending with lightness not the way they descent with the two apostrophoi The hyporrhoe got this name because the sound it is said flows in the larynx like water flowing under small stonesrdquo

Chrysanthos of course relies on a number of older sources here (since the discourse on the etymology and cheironomia of the signs is absolutely neces-sary in Byzantine music theory) However he is most influenced by (and fre-quently quotes from) a very interesting theoretical textbook of the 13th century the Interpretation of the Signs by Michael Blemmydes12 where the same signs are discussed under the following Question-and-Answer format

With God the beginning of signs [of the art of chanting]

explained separately created by the wisest Michael Blemmydes

Question What sign is the ison cheironomized by

Answer By the sign of the Holy Trinity Just as the Holy Trinity is trinal ndash [for] in holiness the Father nor the Son nor the Holy Spirit exceed [each other] so is the ison chanted when the fingers are put together

Question What sign is the oligon cheironomized by

Answer It is cheironomized by the sign of the hand of Our Lord who said to [his] disciples ldquoCast the net on the right side of the ship and ye shall findrdquo

Question What sign is the oxeia cheironomized by

Answer By the sign of sharp lances as if imitating sharp nails

Question What sign is the petasthe cheironomized by

Answer By the sign of the hand of Our Lord who said to the paralysed man ldquoRise take up thy bed and walkrdquo

Question What sign is the kouphisma cheironomized by

Answer By the sign of the cloud overhanging Our Lord at the Transfiguration It is shown by three fingers [embodying] Christ Moses and Elias

Question What sign is shown by the diple

Answer It shows the hand of Our Lord exhorting the Jews and saying to them ldquoThe words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself but of the Father which sent merdquo It shows [its] holiness by

12 Gertsman 1994317-37 (introduction in Russian) 338-56 (introduction in English) 357-60 (Blemmydersquos text in Greek) 361-72 (Russian translation and comments on same text) 373-84 (English translation and comments on same text)

142


three stretched fingers and its humanity is shown by the clenched ones

Question What sign does the kratemokatabasma show

Answer It shows the sign of God descending who came down from Heaven embodied in flesh by Holy Virgin and became a man and having descended [into the sepulchre] rose from the dead but was not outside the Fatherrsquos bosom

Question What sign does the parakletike show

Answer It shows the fire of coals in the sea of Tiberias and Christrsquos call ldquoCome and eatrdquo

Question What does the parakalesma show

Answer It shows the rod of Moses which turned into a serpent

Question What does the petasthon show

Answer It shows the hand of the Angel saying to the shepherds ldquoGo to Bethlehem and ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes This is Christ the Lordrdquo

Question What sign does the kratema show

Answer It shows the hand of [John] the Baptist holding [it] and saying ldquoBehold the Lamb of Godrdquo

Question What sign does the apoderma show

Answer It shows the sign of the tabernacle of testimony

Question What sign is the bareia cheironomized by

Answer By the sign of those heaving up [their] burden and climbing up all the way as they say among the grammarians a bending man imitates the oxeia and the one riding [a horse] imitates the circumflex accent

Question What sign is the kylisma cheironomized by

Answer It shows the Sun making its way from East to West

Question What sign is the xeron klasma cheironomized by

Answer By the sign of the hand of the Lord who is blessing five loaves and filling five thousand [people]

Question What sign is the antikenoma cheironomized by

Answer It shows the boat when Peter casts a hook and a net into the sea and finds a draught of fish

Question What does the apostrophos show

Answer Joachimrsquos gifts for Anna when they return from the temple [after having prayed] about their childlessness

Question What does the elaphron show

Answer It shows the sign of the hand of Our Lord breaking bread and giving [it] to his des-ciples

Question What does the psephiston show

Answer Jacobrsquos ladder which he put up [in his dream] or [it shows] Our Lady

Question What does the gorgon show

Answer It shows the sign of the hand of John the Baptist rejoicing in his soul and using his hand when baptizing Christ In the same way the tromikon [is shown]

While the tzakisma hellip dot Let it be for you hellip the bodies [] and the spirits

Question How many semitones [exist]

Answer Seven

143


Question Why are they called semitones

Answer [Because] they lead to the tone

Question How many spirits [exist]

Answer Four

Question What are they

Answer hellip the hypsele and the chamele

The above text is purely symbolical this is why those who have studied it up to the present day are rather puzzled about its true meaning ldquoThe explana-tions are so metaphorical in this treatiserdquo observes Neil Moran

that it is almost impossible to disentangle concrete indications from the biblical exegesis [hellip] The sign for the petaste for instance is modelled upon the hand of Christ saying to the paralytic lsquoTake up your bed and walkrsquo (Mk 29) The pelaston shows the hand of the angel saying to the shepherds lsquoGo unto Bethlehem and you will find a babe wrapped in swad-dling clothes this is Christ our Lordrsquo The cheironomy for the kouphisma is modelled upon a cloud overshadowing Christ in the Transfiguration and it shows with the fingers the three Christ Moses and Elijah The oligon is cheironomized upon the model of the hand of Christ saying to his disciples lsquoCast in the net on the right side of the boat and you shall findrsquo One might suppose that iconographic representations of the above-mentioned scenes would offer clues for the interpretation but in nearly every case the hand gestures are quitet innocuous ndash some figure is simply giving either the sign for the blessing or pointing upward13

The only certain thing is that this text (just like most of the theoretical manu-als of the psaltic art transmitted to us) must be read in the light of the philoso-phy exposed in the following passage from the answer (given the year 1640 by the philosopher Gerasimos a Vallachian and Cretan) of the protopsaltes Demetrios Tamias from Crete to a question of a certain Jacob a Venetian who asked ldquowhat is the reason for the custom of the cheironomia and the chanting of the terere in the Eastern Churchrdquo

From the very beginning the Catholic and Apostolic Church of Christ has done nothing in vain all its actions have a meaning and a purpose following the tradition of the old Fathers and Teachers Each form each word denotes an accomplishment a meaning a history a miracle and a mystery of almighty God Today however many people with an aversion for the study [hellip] dare say that chanting the terere and accompanying the divine music with gesticulation is a wrong thing to do ignoring the reason why this is done Thus they resemble the animals which cry without gesticulation because they do not have hands14

What is certain however is that this text refers to specific scenes from the life of Christ which are known to Byzantine iconography images that can be con-sidered as examples of possible movements of the hands and can thus function as a guide to the indirect teaching of cheironomia15 together of course with

13 Moran 198643-4 14 John-Stefanos 1851887-815 ldquoCheironomiarsquos specific featuresrdquo notes Gertsman 1984356 ldquoalways depended not only on the musical material but on the unique artistic manner of each choir-master and of course on the professional quality of the choir itself as well as on its professional culture Thus it would not be reasonable to think that cheironomic gestures were everywhere and always the same Quite the contrary Following some general principles each master added his own individual features to them and at times they may have differed greatly Hence the

144


knowledge of the purely musical material What we see here therefore is an attempt to combine the usual theoretical instructions (based on the description of Byzantine music signs for instance) with a drawing (designed through the aforementioned iconographical representations) an image that can be consid-ered as a visual example of a possible illustrated version of any melody

Let me make another point the images mentioned above and which il-

lustrate characteristics and energies of all Byzantine music signs clearly refer to suggested movements of the hands that Jesus Christ made at some point during his time on earth Such movements are depicted on a large number of relevant icon scenes and an initial study of the rich corpus of Byzantine and late-Byzantine iconography could identify them and associate them with the relevant theoretical points in Byzantine music16

What is less well known ndash and I make only brief mention here of what could possibly be the subject of future study ndash is the fact that similar gestures have also been used in Buddhism as from ancient times to the present17 The illus-trations of these gestures which are remarkably similar to Christian illustra-tions are called mudratildes ldquoafter the Sanskrit word lsquomudrarsquo meaning gesture or inner stance [hellip] a combination of fine body moves which change mood be-haviours and perception and which enhance awareness and focusrdquo18 the ma-jority of them had been coined by Hindus but ldquomudrasrdquo acquired different much deeper semantics in Buddhism as they contribute to progress towards

the comprehension of transcendence through meditation as well as art19

Some of these gestures ldquomudrasrdquo are exactly the same as Christrsquos gestures as depicted in the known iconography And they do look extremely familiar when compared to both those described in the theoretical treatises mentioned above and those popular with mod-ern choir directors of Byzantine music

See for instance a table of nine ldquomu-drasrdquo meditation positions for Buddha Amitabha worship divided in three lev-els low middle and high20

information recorded in the work of Michael Blemmydes should be considered as a variant of the systems of cheironomic gestures popular at that timerdquo16 Cf Antoniou 2007320-8 17 Zographos 200985-97 18 Sarasouati 2008429 [see also ibid425-79 for a more analytical description of ldquomu-drasrdquo] 19 Zographos 200985-620 Ibid86-7

145


Those of the middle level seem identical to Christrsquos gestures known through Byz-antine iconography as well as to those of Buddha as depicted in the relevant stat-ues21

To make a paral-lel this phenomenon with some relevant

musicological materi-al I would also like to show two miniatures In the first one Ioannis Glykys is depicted with his pupils Ioannis Koukouzelis and Xenos Koronis22

21 Ibid86-9 9522 A miniature taken from Codex No 457 of Koutloumousiou Monastery of Mount Athos [cf Moran 1986illustration 6 Hannick 1978197 note 4 Spyrakou 2008479 in the latter reference the following description of the miniature can be found ldquoIn the centre there is depicted the first chanter Ioannis Glykys with umbel belt and a cane at his feet whilst with his two hands he makes the sign of the cross ndash he blesses the proceedings On either side of the first chanter stand his pupils ie Ioannis Koukouzelis the maistor and the first chanter Xenos Koronis with umbels and belts In their hands they hold musical manuscripts with the material being chanted in relation to which the maistor Koukouzelis is gesturing the Oxeia whilst the first chanter Koronis is gesturing the Ison obviously addressing them-selves to two choroi which are not depictedrdquo]

According to a clear inscription writ-ten on this miniature Koronis is gestur-ing the ison sign let us see in a detail how he does this

146


This is I believe quite similar to the aforementioned description by Chry-santhos the isonrsquos ldquocheironomia was done the way we do the sign of the cross three fingers forming the symbol of the Holy Trinityrdquo

In the second miniature ldquothe most musical mister Ioasaph the new Kouk-ouzelisrdquo is depicted teaching some gestures to his pupils23

Nevertheless the existant theoretical material is full of examples of the teacherrsquos imagination running wild when it comes to specific signs of particu-lar significance and function In such cases any attempt to describe and effec-tively present these signs goes beyond the simple approach of an ldquoiconograph-ical instructionrdquo or even a known hand gesture instead we have whimsical images featuring a number of persons which vividly describe the energy and graphically depict the very nature of these musical symbols Again the theo-retical treatise mentioned above (Questions and Answers on the Interval Signs) provides some quintessential examples of which I would highlight the pic-tures describing the following signs

The Kentemabull 24 a sign which ldquosometimes it is placed with an oligon

23 A miniature taken from the Codex No 740 (f 122r) of Iviron Monastery of Mount Athos [cf Hadjigiakoumes 1980 illustration 12 at p 73 of the said reference the following description of the miniature can be found ldquohellipa many-faceted description from a manuscript [hellip] from the Monastery of the Iviron from the beginning of the 18th century written by some scribe named Nikolaos There is depicted lsquothe most musical mister Ioasaph the new Koukouzelisrsquo teaching (the gesture) to two other persons who are lsquohis nephew and pupil [name indecipherable]rsquo and lsquohis servant and pupilrsquo all with characteristic period attirerdquo]24 Schartau 199871 [ ldquoThe kentema has no cheironomy because it is a pneuma Now since it does not have it ltie the cheironomygt being a pneuma but must necessarily be given a cheironomy together with the other signs it stands in need of another sign that has a cheironomy being as it were the body (soma) of it while it is ltitselfgt a pneuma For a pneuma (spirit) cannot subsist without a soma neither can it be composed just as light cannot subsist without ltsubjectgt matter And what is the soma of the kentema The oligon the oxeia and the petasthe ndash And does one pneuma possess three somata ndash I donrsquot say that it has all three at the same time But sometimes it is placed with an oligon sometimes

In a detail his gestures are very nearly identical to the previously mentioned one that of ison sign also described in Blemmydesrsquo text above as ldquoa symbol of Holy Trinity when the fingers are put togetherrdquo

147


sometimes with an oxeia and sometimes with a petastherdquo and for that reason is being described here as light [ ldquolight in a lamp light in a can-dle and light in a ltburninggt logrdquo] or breath [ ldquobreath in a sheep breath in a wolf breath in an eaglerdquo] in addition concerning how the same sign ldquowhen it is placed in front of the oligon subjects but when it is placed on the top of the oligon doesnrsquot subjectrdquo one may see descrip-tions of it here as being ldquolike a flowing riverrdquo [ ldquoIf someone were to construct a dam in front of the streaming water then he would cut off its forward impetus but if he would place some vessel on the water it would not obstruct the movement but the vessel too would be moved together with the waterrdquo]The dyo kentematabull 25 a sign described here as ldquotwo high dignitariesrdquo

with an oxeia and sometimes with a petasthe Have you not seen light in a lamp light in a candle and light in a ltburninggt log One light in three bodies And again breath in a sheep breath in a wolf breath in an eagle The breath is one and the same but the animals are three ltdifferentgt species So it is also with this when the kentema is standing in front of the oligon then it subjects ie covers its voice (diastematic function) and the oligon becomes a body (soma) without a voice But when the kentema is standing on top of the oligon then the oligon has its own voice (the interval of a second) and the kentema its two voices (the interval of a third) ndash And how come that the kentema when it is placed in front of the oligon subjects but when it is placed on the top of the oligon doesnrsquot subject ndash The voices are moving just like a flowing river If someone were to construct a dam in front of the streaming water then he would cut off its forward impetus but if he would place some vessel on the water however it would not obstruct the movement but the vessel too would be moved together with the water So it is also with the kentema When it is placed in front of the oligon it bridles its voice but when it is placed on top of it it does not prevent it from having its own proper voice It is the same with the oxeia and the petastherdquo] 25 Ibid77-81 [ ldquoThese dyo kentemata resemble two high dignitaries each of whom is a plenipotentiary of his country a kind of despot But the two have made an agreement and have abandoned their rank and their power and are walking around in the midst of the people with the common folk ie with the elaphron and the chamele and because of this each of them has lost two things the honour and the grandeur What is the honour (value) That when he had rank he never walked alone but accompanied by soldiers And the gran-deur is the power through which he could subject men But now they are unable to subject anybody and for that reason men are not afraid of them On the other hand they do not expel them but accept them since they know from whence they are So it is also with the dyo kentemata they have no other honour (value) but this alone that they are added to all the ldquovoicedrdquo (diastematic) signs ie the ascending and descending voices (steps) ndash (hellip) the man who made these was an artist But he who made these signs from the beginning to the end or in other words from the ison through all the rest he made them in many ways some lthe madegt for ascending and descending voices others for rest and others again for cheironomy And as a wise artist he saw that just as the cheironomy is in need of many signs for the ltvariousgt figures thus also the mode is in need of many signs for the voices of the melos be they firm or melodic slow or quick He made the oxeia a lighter voice than the petasthe and the oligon lighter than the oxeia And again he was looking for a voice briefer than the oligon and he figured out as a wise man that this sign must not be one of the somata but must be one of the pneumata since the soma (body) is a heavy thing So he brought in the two pneumata ie the dyo kentemata and made them one hypostasis just as

148


who ldquohave made an agreement and have abandoned their rank and their power and are walking around in the midst of the people with the common folkrdquo we can further read that ldquothe man who made these was an artist he was looking for a voice briefer than the oligon and he fig-ured out as a wise man that this sign must not be one of the somata but must be one of the pneumata since the soma (body) is a heavy thing So he brought in the two pneumata ie the dyo kentemata and made them one hypostasis just as a man from the two elements earth and water makes clay as one hypostasisrdquo in another point same sign is described as wind ldquoeastern western northern southern depends on the posi-tion which is making the differencerdquo and note finally this image ldquoThe dyo kentemata are just as if a man had mixed two flutes and put both of them into his mouth and blew a note and one voice came out of both of them and no one is able to distinguish the one from the otherrdquoThe dyo Apostrophoibull 26 which are described ldquoas if two persons would place themselves in front of you and emit one voice and you canrsquot say that these men have two natures but one onlyrdquoThe dyo Oxeiai the so-called Diplebull 27 a sign described ldquoas two men with

a man from the two elements earth and water makes clay as one hypostasis ndash So it is but I still have some doubt if you donrsquot mind The combination which you mentioned is not put together from four elements of the same kind for water is one thing soil another But in the present case it is different for both constituents are kentemata ndash You are right But listen attentively The eastern the western the northern and the southern are not all of them winds ndash By all means ndash But from the proper position each of them differs from the next both as far as the direction and the violence are concerned the position making the differ-ence ndash So it is ndash Now since as we have already said the dyo kentemata have become one hypostasis they ought not to have four voices but only one just like man For even though he was made out of four elements that does not imply that he has four voices but only one It might also be put like this Man is an intellectual soul and a earthy body in one hypostasis and you were right in saying just now that the signs are lifeless and immobile and man is the one who makes them move as are the stringed instrument (mousike=lyre) the trumpet and the flute And all these melodic apparatuses are dead and passive but man acts through them (hellip) ndash The dyo kentemata are just as if a man had mixed two flutes and put both of them into his mouth and blew a note and one voice came out of both of them and no one is able to distinguish the one from the other So please accept in justice as well as from a philosophical point of view that the dyo kentemata ought to have ltonlygt one voice and not morerdquo]26 Ibid101-3 [ ldquoThe interpretation of the dyo apostrophoi is easier than the interpre-tation of the dyo kentemata For the fact that they posses one voice is similar to what we have already said about the two flutes viz that the dyo apostrophoi were brought together and became one hypostasis just as if two persons would place themselves in front of you and emit one voice and you canrsquot say that these men have two natures but one only (hellip) Two saintly brothers living together wonrsquot they have this equality ie ltlikegt the dyo apos-trophoi one of which isnrsquot more honorable than the other but both are equal both in their quality and in their naturerdquo]27 Ibid105 [ ldquoAs if two men with a reputation for bravery had grasped each other in order to wrestle and one of them was not stronger than the other but both of them had

149


a reputation for bravery grasped each other in order to wrestle and none of them was stronger than the other but both of them had equality of strengthrdquoThe so-called Seismabull 28 a combination of signs described as a house And finally the Hyporrhoebull 29 a very interesting sign described as water or as ldquoa swift manrdquo

Moving from theory to practice or in other words in an attempt to bridge theory and practice by transubstantiating the theoretical concepts to practice through sound and image I would need to ask myself the following question based on what was discussed up to this point how we could conceive and present a typical Byzantine musical score in images

Obviously there could be either a narrow approach starting from the draw-ing of each sign but also a rather wider approach by implication taking into account and sketching out the combination of a number of signs the theseis the musical phrases of which any melody consists the latter made through the movement of the hands Any of those two approaches potentially leads to ei-

equality of strength and in consequence of the impetus of strength and the equality of both of them a stalemate (argia) has occurred since the one is unable to conquer the other thus also the two oxeiai in consequence of the impetus of their mutual struggle have concluded in a duration (argia) and a silence ie lsquovoicelessnessrsquo (lack of interval value) and for that reason the diple is called a lsquovoicelessrsquo sign ltthat isgt slow or in other words immobile as if a soldier had left his army and is standing idlerdquo] 28 Ibid129 [ ldquoNow hear what I have to say about the seisma A house is composed of various materials such as stone wood clay iron of the nails etc None of these ltcom-ponentsgt is called anything It is the house that is called something viz house When an earthquake occurs and one or other of these components is being shaken then all the rest of them will of necessity be shaken too But we donrsquot say that the stones are being shaken nor that the pieces of wood are but the house And the thing that shakes ltitgt we call lsquoa shakersquo (earthquake) And this shaking might be a hint from God to those on the earth on which the house has been built lsquoHe looketh on the earth (thus David says) and it tremblethrsquo So now also the seisma has got two bareiai ie the piasma and on top of it one or two ascending voices It also has the hemiphone tzakisma and a krousma And below it has the dyo apos-trophoi a voice and a rest and often also the elaphron in the Psaltikonrdquo]29 Ibid133 [ ldquoWater is a soulless thing but it is in its nature to run though not always For when it has an even surface upon the earth then it just spreads out but when it has a flow ie a descent then it is running more abruptly And it also utters voices as the prophet says ldquothey shall utter a voice out of the midst of the rocksrdquo But if it has in front of it an ob-stacle such as a dam then it stands motion ndash and voiceless And if someone comes and stirs it up it is just set into motion but it cannot run because of the dam Thus also the hyporrhoe when it does not have an obstacle underneath it is called hyporrhoe and it has two voices descending with eagerness But when it is placed with the piasma because of the shaking it rejects both the name and the voices and is called ldquoseismardquo seeing that it is setting others in motion For in your cheironomy it is being stirred up and just sets the piasma and the voices in motion but it is unable to descend It is as when a swift man is descending energetically from a ladder and another man comes and grasps the ladder from below thus hindering his motion so that he canrsquot descend and is ltleftgt standing idle And he isnrsquot idle like the diple ltbutgt just hindered in the descent and shaken in his powerrdquo]

150


ther a mental picture or to a real demonstration in the form of hands drawing a picture in the air of any given melody

In any such mental or real image the concept of symbols (the symbols of Byzantine music signs) could initially provide a broad outline in black and white which would later be complemented by the very distinct colours of each artistrsquos creative imagination and poetic sensitivity The colour palette would then take over depicting alternations and recyclings reprocesses and refor-mulations of appeared musical forms and this whole process would bring out the image hidden in the music and at the same time the sequence of feelings the very movements of the artistrsquos soul

But particularly the example of the unknown but inspired teacher in the theoretical treatise I quoted earlier (Questions and Answers on the Interval Signs) can be nothing short of a clear call to us all to let our imagination take over and grasp the phenomenon of musical creation in terms of creating pluralistic whimsical images

In conclusion I shall show the simplest possible musical composition30 as a final example Note particularly the initial ascent of a fourth made through a kentema on the top of an oligon as well as to a series of petasthe formulations used four times followed by a sequence of psiphiston formulations which ap-pears here five times

With all the ldquoimagesrdquo mentioned above I will attempt to let my imagina-tion run wild and visualize the very essence of the melody in quite a different way

And here I am hellip standing next to a noisy rapid running endlesslyhellip suddenly an eastern wind starts to blow decisively and peacefully filling me with joy and gently stroking the water in mild ripples hellip and the spray reaches as far as the fire burning under the shady plane tree and it causes the logs to sing a creaking tune hellip breaking their afternoon rest the two beloved brothers start sing-

30 Cf Phokaeus 18395

η κΘ Π ΅a sS a g s f g fA g fA g s s ak61

πκ983088983088983088983088983088983088983088983088983088983088983088983088983088983088983088983088983088983088983088983088 983088983908983908983088983088983088983088983907983907 983088983088μ983906983906983088983088983088983088983088983088983088983088ϟ983088983088983088degSn o` sgh rnt bgqh rsd o` sgnm h kd esgd qn sgh ldm

f g s a sv g g a s sv g g sv g gπκ983088983088983088983088983088983088983908983908983088983088983088983088983088983088983088983088ψ 983088ϟ deg983088983088983088983088983088983088983088ψ 983088983088983088983088983088983088983088983088983088983088

jd sh ` m` rs` rh rt dj esgn q`r d kh sqn sgh ldm

sv g g sbquov g g gauml aπκ983088983088983088983088983088983088983088983088983088μ983088983088983088983088983088983088983088983088983244983244983088983088983244983088983244983244

Jh qh d cn n w` ` rh

151


ing a song unheard before and it sounds as though it is being performed by one single voice hellip their song wakes up a gorgeous golden eagle perching on the branches hellip he gracefully flaps his wings and wets his claws in the river hellip the water wiggles and stirs and then keeps running freelyhellip

I truly believe that in such a way and using a similar thought process any melody could be turned into an image an image that the researcherrsquos creative imagination could draw as he leaves his mind free to draw the dimensions and the dynamics of the music piece he studies an image that a painter could visu-alize and turn into a work of art into a painting an image that every appren-tice performer who may attempt to study this same melody could picture in his head in order to have a better more vivid understanding of the structure and the course of the melody the whole idea of the music the emotion veiled by the images and colours of the sound an image that the accomplished and experienced performer of the same melody will draw with his voice an image that the leader and master of a psaltic choir will draw in the air through the movement of his hands

Had it been possible to outline any melody in the ways described above this mental and imaginary picture the so-desired and sought-after image would be a great example of how we could approach understand study teach in-terpret direct feel with all our senses the music the phenomenon of musical creation in all its facets and dimensions doing nothing less than hellipldquoillustrat-ing melodiesrdquo

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Antoniou Spyridon (2007) Morphology of Byzantine Ecclesiastical Music Thessaloniki

Gertsman Evgeny Vladimirovich (1994) Petersburg Theoreticon Odessa

Hadjigiakoumes Manolis K (1980) Manuscripts of Ecclesiastical Music 1453-1820 A con-tribution to the research on Modern Hellenism Athens National Bank of Greece

Hannick Christian (1978) ldquoDie Lehrschriften zur byzantinischen Kirchenmusikldquo in Hunger Herbert Die Hochsprachliche Profane Literatur der Byzantiner vol 2nd Pages 196-218 Muumlnchen CHBeckrsquosche Verlagsbuchhandung

John the Lampadarios - Stefanos the first Domestikos of the Great Church of Christ (1851) Pandekti of the holy Ecclesiastical Hymnodia of all the Ecclesiastical Year Vol 4th compositions for the Divine Liturgy Konstantinople Patriarchal Printing

Zographos Ambrosius-Aristotle (2009) Similarities between Christrsquos and Buddharsquos Ico-nography Athens Maistros

Mazaraki Despoina (1992) A Musical Interpretation of Folk-songs from Mount Athos man-uscripts (2nd edition revised and improved prologued by Samuel Baud-Bovy) Athens Philippos Nakas

Moran Neil K (1986) Singers in Late Byzantine and Slavonic Painting Leiden EJBrill

Phokaeus Theodoros (1839) Short Anastasimatarion composed by Peter the Peloponnesian

152


and transcribed by Gregory the Protopsaltes of the Great Church of Christ Constantinople Ignatiadis Brothers Editions

Popescu-Judetz Eugenia - Ababi-Sirli Adriana (2000) Sources of 18th century music Panayiotes Chalatzogloursquos and Kyrillos Marmarinosrsquos comparative treatise on secular music Instanbul Pan Yayincilik

Romanou Katy (translation) (2010) Great Theory of Music by Chrysanthos of Mady-tos New Rochelle New York The Axion Estin Foundation

Sarasouati Souami Satyananta (2008) Asana Pranayama Mudra Bandha (5th Greek edi-tion) Thessaloniki Garuda Hellas

Schartau Bjarne (1998) Anonymous Questions and Answers on the Interval Signs (Monumenta Musicae Byzantinae-Corpus Scriptorum de Re Musica vol IV) Wien Oumlsterreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften

Spyrakou Evangelia Ch (2008) Singerrsquos Choirs according to the Byzantine Tradition (In-stitute of Byzantine Musicology Studies 14) Athens Institute of Byzantine Musicol-ogy

Wolfram Gerda - Hannick Christian (1985) Gabriel Hieromonachos Abhandlung uumlber den Kirchengesang (Monumenta Musicae Byzantinae-Corpus Scriptorum de Re Musica vol I) Wien Oumlsterreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften

______ (1997) Die Erotapokriseis des pseudo-Johannes Damaskenos zum Kirchengesang (Monumenta Musicae Byzantinae-Corpus Scriptorum de Re Musica vol V) Wien Oumlster-reichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften

Publisher The International Society for Orthodox Church Music (ISOCM) Editors Ivan Moody and Maria Takala-Roszczenko

Translation from Russian into English language ndash Maria Takala- Roszczenko

Sale The International Society for Orthodox Church Music wwwisocmcomresourcespublications Cover design copy Ikonifoto Vesa Takala

Photographs Kalevi Koslonen

The International Society for Orthodox Church MusicISSN 1796-9581ISBN 978-952-99883-5-8

Printed by Ecoprint AS Estonia2015









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Answer Seven

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Answer Seven

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Answer Seven

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BIBLIOGRAPHY










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BIBLIOGRAPHY










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Answer Seven

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BIBLIOGRAPHY










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Answer Seven

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Answer Four









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BIBLIOGRAPHY










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Answer Four









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BIBLIOGRAPHY










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BIBLIOGRAPHY










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BIBLIOGRAPHY










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BIBLIOGRAPHY










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BIBLIOGRAPHY










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"Illustrating Melodies: Iconographical Instructions into Byzantine Music Theory and Practice"

Documents

Transcript of "Illustrating Melodies: Iconographical Instructions into Byzantine Music Theory and Practice"